{"id":653583,"date":"2025-04-12T04:00:46","date_gmt":"2025-04-12T08:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=653583"},"modified":"2025-04-11T06:11:47","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T10:11:47","slug":"nottingham-forest-predicted-lineup-everton-apr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2025\/04\/12\/nottingham-forest-predicted-lineup-everton-apr\/","title":{"rendered":"Nottingham Forest Predicted Lineup vs Everton for April 12"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">High-flying Nottingham Forest return to action with an important home clash against 15th-placed Everton as they look to get back on track following a 2-1 defeat away at Villa Park. Nuno Espirito Santo\u2019s side currently sit third in the Premier League, and a win against the Toffees would bring their points tally to a highly impressive 60.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This would create some much-needed space between them and their top-five rivals, possibly putting them eight points clear of sixth-placed Manchester City, should the reigning champions lose to Crystal Palace. Here is the Nottingham Forest predicted lineup for their game against Everton at the City Ground.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Nottingham Forest Predicted Lineup for Key Premier League Clash vs Everton<\/h2>\n<h3>How Forest Have Lined up Recently<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Due to injuries to both Chris Wood and Taiwo Awoniyi, Forest were without a recognised striker for their game against Aston Villa on April 5, so Nuno was forced to adapt from his usual 4-2-3-1 system. The Tricky Trees lined up in a back five, with Morato joining the usual centre-back pairing of Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nicolas Dominguez and Neco Williams operated as wing-backs, with the Argentinian deputising for the injured Ola Aina. In midfield, Ryan Yates and Elliot Anderson retained their places, with star man <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2025\/04\/11\/morgan-gibbs-white-manchester-city\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Morgan Gibbs-White<\/a> just ahead. Wingers Callum Hudson-Odoi and Anthony Elanga made up a makeshift front two in the absence of a number nine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prior to the Villa game, Forest had consistently lined up in a 4-2-3-1 system with a target-man forward, typically the in-form Wood, played up front alongside two speedy wingers. This tactical setup has not only brought fantastic success for the team, but has allowed players such as Wood, Elanga, and Hudson-Odoi to play the best football of their careers.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Forest\u2019s Recent Form and Tactics<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Tricky Trees had won their past five games in all competitions before the defeat to Villa, and they have been outstanding throughout the season. A record of 13 clean sheets gives them the joint-best defence in the division, and they have only conceded 37 goals all term.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Read More<\/strong>: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2025\/04\/11\/morgan-gibbs-white-manchester-city\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">\u2018Among Options\u2019: Nottingham Forest\u2019s \u2018Star Player\u2019 A Target for Premier League Giant<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Forest have also made headlines as the team with the least possession in the Premier League, averaging just 40% of the ball this campaign. Their fantastic defensive organisation and ability to soak up pressure has allowed them to defeat teams without requiring any real possession, as they have a frightening ability to break forward with pace and cut through opponents.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Nottingham Forest Injuries to Consider<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Forest fans will be waiting anxiously for injury news as three players will be subject to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6269665\/2025\/04\/10\/wood-elanga-awoniyi-nottingham-forest-injury-update\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">late fitness tests prior to the game.<\/a> Strikers Wood and Awoniyi will be assessed on Friday ,April 11 alongside Anthony Elanga, with all three closing in on a much-needed return to Nuno\u2019s side.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><strong>Read More<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2025\/04\/05\/anthony-elanga-nottingham-forest-manchester-united\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Anthony Elanga: From Unappreciated at Manchester United to Unstoppable at Forest<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Aina, who has been ever-present for the Midlands side this season, playing 30 of their 31 games, is reportedly unavailable due to a calf problem. However, Alex Moreno, who was ineligible to play against parent club Villa, will be available and should replace the Nigerian.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wood has been in imperious form this season, netting a career-best 18 league goals, and if he is passed fit for the Everton game, he could make a huge difference. Nuno will be desperate to have either the New Zealander or Awoniyi available to allow him to stick to his preferred system.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Nottingham Forest Predicted Lineup vs Everton<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GK: Mats Sels<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RB: Neco Williams<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CB: Nikola Milenkovic\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CB: Murillo<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LB: Alex Moreno<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">DM: Elliot Anderson<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">DM: Ryan Yates<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">AM: Morgan Gibbs-White<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RW: Anthony Elanga<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LW: Callum Hudson-Odoi<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ST: Chris Wood<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>High-flying Nottingham Forest return to action with an important home clash against 15th-placed Everton as they look to get back on track following a 2-1 defeat away at Villa Park. Nuno Espirito Santo\u2019s side currently sit third in the Premier League, and a win against the Toffees would bring their points tally to a highly [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5510,"featured_media":653599,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4475,3],"tags":[31768],"class_list":["post-653583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nottingham-forest","category-premier-league","tag-nottingham-forest-predicted-lineup"],"modified_by":"Alex Richards, LWOF Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5510"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=653583"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653583\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":653598,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653583\/revisions\/653598"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/653599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=653583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=653583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}